The Highwater, a tropical-themed bar which opened at 34-20 Broadway to rave reviews in September, is revising its food and drink options to experiment with new ideas this winter.

Among the additions are three new menus for happy hour, seasonal food and drinks, and a late night food menu for guests looking to grab a bite after 11:00 p.m.

The Cry Baby cocktail (The Highwater)

George Spilke, co-owner at The Highwater, said his team is excited to roll out these and other changes.

“We always want to keep innovating and evolving, and one way to do that is to change with the seasons and not be afraid to try new things,” Spilke said.

Some of the new additions to the cocktail list that bar manager Gabriel Colom-Rocha and his team have concocted are the “Clint Eastwood,” a mix of bourbon, ginger liqueur, all-spice syrup and blueberry jam bitters, and the “Cry Baby,” made with mescal, ancho reyes, fresh lime, agave-rosemary syrup and habanero bitters.

Other new drinks that have made it to the winter menu are the hot mulled wine and the “Drunk Grandma,” which bartender Erin Cusick fashioned after her grandmother’s favorite holiday cocktail recipe that includes rum, cider, lemon and clove.

These and all other signature cocktails will be included in the bar’s new Happy Hour window which goes from 4:00 p.m to 7:00 p.m, Monday through Friday. During this time, customers will receive $2.00 off all cocktails, beer and wine glasses, including two new red offerings, “Psh” Malbec and “Le Fou” Pinot Noir.

“We really want to go big with the happy hour this season as its cold and dark when people are getting off work now,” Spilke said. “We want to offer people a tropical oasis of happiness in their own backyard.”

Another focus of The Highwater‘s happy hour service will be novel food offerings that include creative takes on familiar dishes. For example, the bar will offer mac and cheese loaded with pulled pork and jalapeno peppers.

These will join customer favorites such as Brussels sprouts and their popular sweet and spicy taro fries.

Loaded tacos (The Highwater)

Honey sriracha wings and grilled coconut shrimp with pineapple honey glaze have also been added to the menu; shareable plates of pork belly tacos with sriracha aioli, cilantro and cumin slaw will be offered; so too will be crunchy fish tacos with pineapple salsa, guacamole, sriracha and romaine lettuce; and veggie tacos with tofu, guacamole, mango salsa and wasabi aioli.

“These are not your typical tiny tacos and we use premium ingredients like Chilean sea bass so you actually get a full meal on Taco Tuesdays,” Spilke said, adding that the servings will be generous and will be priced at $3.50 every Tuesday from open until close.

The Highwater‘s brunch menu will also be getting an update on weekends from 11:00 a.m to 3:30 p.m.

The Hail Mary brunch cocktail (The Highwater)

Vegetarian options like tofu scramble and Hawaiian french toast with Nutella, yuzu cream and mango will be making an appearance on the menu, as well as meat-friendly items such as the “Hail Mary”, a twist on the popular brunch drink.

“We want to do something different with brunch, so we loaded up a Bloody Mary with shrimp, plantain chips, guacamole and bacon served in a large copper pineapple,” Spilke said.

He said another change that he expects to stand out on the popular Broadway strip is the late night food menu, which will be available from 11:00 p.m to closing every day.

“We have deep fried pickles, spicy sweet potato fries and some of our favorite day time items such as mac and cheese balls, and something we call Billionaire’s Bacon,” he shared.

These new items and more are currently being served at The Highwater, with continual changes expected to be made throughout the season.

In the mean time, Spilke said he’s been looking for ways to support the community by shopping for their food item ingredients in Astoria.

“We’re committed to being a part of the community by sourcing our ingredients locally whenever we can, such as purchasing all our meat directly from K&T Deli and our bread from Parisi Bakery,” he said.

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